Chipping Norton Literary Festival novel critique event

Carole Blake (photo by Jack Ladenburg)

BREAKING NEWS!!

10th April: We are delighted to now announce the five successful applicants for the ‘Pitch the Agent event’, together with the four reserves (who will have their novels discussed in the event of one of the successful applicants being unable to attend). The names, in alphabetical surname order, are… drum-roll please…

Angela Caiger (Witney, Oxon) – ‘Defy and Die’ (crime): Three years after his girlfriend is murdered, Dan Wright, a part-time private detective, heads to Mykonos to reconcile his differences with his father, Graham, only to find him killed.

Louise Morrish (Alton, Hampshire) – ‘Flesh and Blood‘ (historical (WW1)): 1917: Disguised as a soldier, a brave young woman must fight for survival in the trenches and tunnels of Flanders, in a desperate search for her missing brother.

Peter Allen (Chipping Norton, Oxon) – Love’s Divine Fire (historical): “A historical, romantic novel of love, passion and murder set in a violent period of 15th century Florence, revealing the secrets of some of the greatest paintings of the Renaissance.”

Doc Andersen-Bloomfield (Chipping Norton, Oxon) – Straight-Edge (Y.A.) After their mother’s death, how does teenager Rodney and his brother Greg cope with what life and hormones throw at them.

Katie Carr (Stratford upon Avon) – A Cuckoo Crying (saga): Set in Warwickshire between 1925 and 1941, ‘A Cuckoo Crying’ is one volume in a planned series of five, following the Lambert and Fletcher families from the Edwardian era to the late 20th century and spanning three countries during a period of enormous upheaval.

Barbara Weeks (Carmarthen, Wales) – The Book of Mercies (historical): Hannah Allen is a radical bookseller who writes of her contrary nature in her Book of Mercies, a diary of sorts; at first a source of comfort but is later used against her when she is drawn into a rebellion against the Restoration.

If you submitted and your name is not listed above (or on the longlist below), please don’t be too disheartened. We had even more entries than last year and the standard was incredibly high. Jane and I had a tough job deciding who to pick… fun though it was.

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6th April: We are delighted to announce the longlist for the ‘Pitch the Agent event’. The names, in alphabetical order, are listed below. From this list, we shall be selecting – to be announced this week – five ‘winners’ and two reserves (in case any of the winners are absent on the day), each receiving free entry to the event:

Seeking a way around the slush pile? Brave enough to have your manuscript critiqued in front of an audience? Whether you’re ready to throw your hat in the ring, or just want to pick up tips for your own writing, this event is one for aspiring authors everywhere.

Literary agent Carole Blake (pictured right) teams up with author of Wannabe a Writer?’s Jane Wenham-Jones for this interactive ‘reality show’ event. Submit the first 1,000 words of your novel in the form below by 20th March 2015 (entries over the 1,000 words excluding title will be disqualified) together with a strict 250-word maximum third-person biography (as if someone else is describing you) and strict 250-word maximum synopsis of your novel including the ending.

not having unrealistic (or too many!) coincidences in your plot where it helps solve a problem (e.g. your character has no money but then wins the lottery); and

do make sure that your synopsis includes your ending!

We’ll invite five shortlisted writers to pitch their work to Carole. The audience will listen as Carole critiques each piece, before opening it up for audience question and answers. Based on the new TV show Wannabe a Writer, this promises to be the Dragons’ Den of the literary world. Join in, if you dare.

Chipping Norton Literary Festival is a four-day celebration of books, reading and writing, with a host of author talks, signings, discussions and workshops.

Successful applicants must be able to attend the ‘Pitch the Agent’ event at Chipping Norton Literary Festival at 10am to 11am on Saturday 25th April, and must be comfortable with a public critique of their work.

Applicants will receive free entry into this event (only), but will be responsible for all travel and accommodation (if applicable) costs associated with attending the ‘Pitch the Agent’ event as well as entry other events they may wish to attend.

There will be no further editorial support available after the event.

There is no cash alternative and free entry applies to this ‘Pitch the Agent’ event only.

This competition is open to ‘wannabe’ writers. You must therefore not have had the novel(s) you are submitting, or previous novels, professionally / traditionally published (self-published is acceptable).

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21 responses

Dear Morgen Bailey and all at Wannabeawriter,
I have just completed the online entry form for the critique competition. I notice that all my formatting is missing and each section is viewed as one long piece of prose. Please confirm that is correct. I would hate to be thrown out due to this. Thank you very much in advance. Nicola.

The formatting isn’t an issue, just the content itself. I’ve processed your application and everything fits the word counts etc. so will go through to the judging stage. We’ll be in touch if you’re successful.

Dear Morgen I completed the online entry form for the critique competition at the beginning of February but I am concerned that I did not get a message confirming that my entry went through successfully. Should I attempt to re-submit my entry or can you confirm that you have received it? With many thanks Tina Smith

Hi Morgen – I’ve just entered the competition. Sounds exciting! Can you confirm if the entry for the event given to successful applicants is for the Pitch the Agent event only or does it cover other events at the festival. Also, when will I hear if I’m short listed? CJ.

Hi Chris. Entry is to this event only. I have amended the wording in the terms to make this clearer. Entry closes tonight and successful entrants will be notified by the end of March at the latest. An announcement will made on this site as well as on social media (Facebook and Twitter) and the successful entrants notified via email.

Hello, Matt. At this stage, it doesn’t have to be finished. We only need to see the first <1000 words but we do need a <250-word synopsis so you would have to know a rough plan of your start, middle and end.

[…] from top agent Carole Blake. This closed on 20th March and the longlist has been posted on Chipping Norton Literary Festival novel critique event. The ‘winners’ (the shortlist of five and reserves) will be announced by Friday 10th […]

[…] the Agent’ event. This competition closed on 20th March and the longlist posted on Chipping Norton Literary Festival novel critique event on Tuesday. The ‘winners’ (the shortlist of five and four reserves) was posted […]

Next events:

See Jane in the play: http://www.visitkent.co.uk/events/222807November 11th, 2016

Book your tickets now for 11, 12, 13 November. http://www.visitkent.co.uk/events/222807

Jane will be compere at the RoNas in LondonMarch 13th, 2017

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Just three of the many Twitter comments…

Sue Cook ‏@theWriteLines 17 Aug 2013: Not published yet but living in hopes? TV pilot should be well worth watching ........…..............................…..............................
@MarinaOLoughlin 15 Aug 2013: What a good idea …..............................….... ..........................…..............................
@JillMansell 15 Aug 2013: It’s just what TV needs.